Contents

History

Origin

The golden age hero Black Marvel acquired the four costumes Spider-Man used when he was accused of murder and couldn't go out as Spider-Man. He then proceeded to give them to four youngsters forming a team that he named Slingers. Every one of the members adopted one of the costumes and the respective alias that Spider-Man used when wearing that specific costume.

They started to train and on one training session Dusk, fell to her death from a roof. Ricochet and Hornet were devastated by what just happened, Prodigy, unaffected emotionally by the loss, told them to move on and they left.The first mission the Slingers were ordered to undertake by Black Marvel was at a construction yard. Prodigy, their field leader, told Ricochet and Hornet to go take a look around, and neither of them noticed a dark figure following them. After some investigation they noticed that Maggia had stored nuclear waste under the building and that waste had mutated rats to grow to a huge mutated beasts. When they saw the rats coming after them they retreated and Ricochet collapsed part of the tunnel using his throwing disk but Hornet couldn't get clear and was buried under the rocks. Same time on the surface Prodigy was fighting against gangsters when the ground collapsed and he retreated.

Ricochet called him on the radio about Hornet but Prodigy just crushed the radio and flew away. Ricochet tried to dig him out but was too devastated to do so. Hornet was still alive under the ruble when that dark figure appeared top of him and next thing he noticed that he was standing in front of Ricochet who was shocked to see him. After they got out of the tunnel they had a little run-in with Spider-Man who was trying to solve how did four of his former costumes end up on these guys.

They managed to get away. Later in his room Eddie got a visit from a friend and he couldn't believe his eyes it was Dusk. She was the one who saved him in the underground tunnel and seems to have manifested her powers after her death. Prodigy had returned to Black Marvel and informed him that mission was a failure and that Ricochet and Hornet were dead. Black Marvel revealed the next mission to Prodigy. So Black Marvel and Prodigy headed to the opening of a new hotel. When Ricochet and Hornet learned that Black Marvel didn't tell them the truth about his plans, they also headed to the hotel, with Dusk not far behind. When Ricochet and Hornet got to the hotel Prodigy attacked them. In the midst of the fight Ricochet was knocked down from the ledge and Prodigy prevented Hornet from saving him by throwing him trough a window. Same time as this fight was going Black Marvel was planting bombs around the building.

Couple of stories down Ricochet was falling to his death when Dusk appeared and teleported him to safety. Prodigy and Hornet were under gunfire from Maggia's goons. Prodigy took them down by throwing a round wooden table at them and crapped one mobster on the throat. He almost killed him but Hornet intervened. Prodigy then took off and Ricochet got back with Dusk. In the meanwhile Black Marvel had finished his bomb planting and detonated them. His ploy was to again be a hero and save people from the fire. Dusk teleported them to Black Marvel and Prodigy also appeared. Black Marvel ran from the flight leaving Ricochet, Hornet, and Dusk to save the civilians, while Prodigy just stood there. They saved several people and Ricochet took out insane Black Marvel.

Prodigy stayed behind to hold up the building so it wouldn't collapse on the others. Everybody except Prodigy managed to get out. Prodigy was buried under the rubble and they handed Black Marvel to the police. Feelings in the team started to be closer after the first real mission and Dusk found Ricochet to be quite attractive. Not knowing that Hornet saw the kiss Dusk gave to him and couldn't help but feel jealous. It was not known to the rest of the team that Prodigy was still alive and managed to dig himself out of the hotel ruins. Ricochet, Dusk and Hornet then had a brief encounter again with sewer mutant rats and their leader Griz.

When Prodigy was cleaning the city by his own methods and with his fists. Prodigy joined the group again and they were pulled to hell by Mephisto to fight for Black Marvel's soul. Mephisto put them through their biggest fears and ordered his armies to kill them but in the end they managed to free Black Marvel's soul. Leaving Mephisto to his kingdom and teleported back to earth.

The group disbanded for uncertain reasons. Ricochet left the team to join the Loners, Hornet died when he tried to stop a mind controlled Wolverine, Dusk wasn't seen for a long while, and Prodigy was an unregistered superhero who was hunted during the Civil War.

Reunion

A demon from Hell became fixated with the Black Marvel's desire to continue teaching the Slingers. When the demon was liberated by the Diogenes Initiative, he confined himself to the form of the Black Marvel, gaining his knowledge and his abilities. The demon also brought back from Hell the former supervillain Cyber, and outfitted him with the equipment of the late Hornet.[1] The Black Marvel impersonator proceeded to contact Prodigy, and had him and Hornet work for Las Vegas millionaire Silas Thorne.

At Prodigy's request, Ricochet trailed Las Vegas vigilante Scarlet Spider,[2] and to his surprise stumbled upon the new Hornet, of whose existence he wasn't aware.[3] Ricochet teamed up with Scarlet Spider to investigate Hornet,[4] and when they confronted him, Dusk made an appearance to help them out.[5] After the Scarlet Spider brutally attacked Thorne, Ricochet decided to put his mistrust for Hornet aside to bring him to justice. The Prodigy then reunited with the other three, effectively marking the return of the Slingers.

After the Slingers kidnapped the Scarlet Spider's ally Cassandra Mercury to force him to turn himself over for hospitalizing Thorne,[2] they met up with the Black Marvel at the Thorne Theater. The quartet and their mentor were soon confronted by the Scarlet Spider and his namesake Kaine Parker. In the middle of the battle, Dusk turned against Black Marvel, since her powers allowed her to detect his true nature. The Hornet additionally revealed his real identity to his teammates.[6] Having learned of truth behind his mentor's apparent return, the Prodigy turned against him as well. When Hornet and the Black Mask were driven off, the Slingers attempted but failed to capture Hornet. The Scarlet Spiders went up against the Black Marvel, and seemingly killed him. The Slingers then made peace with the Scarlet Spider, but promised to ensure he would hold to his promise to refrain from acting violently again.[1]